


Of Flowers and Love

by squiggleyo



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 07:40:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13899444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squiggleyo/pseuds/squiggleyo
Summary: Ryan's just an average guy who works at his deceased grandmas flower shop until Luke comes in and steals his heart with roses and half-assed arguments.





	Of Flowers and Love

**Author's Note:**

> Ayeeee this is super late but enjoy :)

Of Flowers and Tattoos - Ohmtoonz au

Ryan messily ran his fingers through his hair as he heard the little ding of the bell, which meant another customer had entered. He was at work currently; the little flower shop on the corner that was run by his grandma who recently passed away. He stood up a bit straighter, slowly getting up from the counter that he was leaning on. The man that had walked in was checking out the shop and all it had to offer.  
Ryan had went to extreme measures to make sure all of the plants had been taken care of. He almost broke an arm once, falling off of a ladder trying to water some of the plants outside. The pale, yellow paint job was peeling in some places, but still managed to give off a warm glow. There were a lot of windows to let in natural light, but sometimes it was a bit blinding when the sun was staring him directly in the face.  
The customer was looking at the different plants before he picked up a small pot with a cactus in it.

"Good evening, sir, is that all?" Ryan recited.

"I think so, yes." He answered.

"Great. Your total would be $6.99." Ryan said.

The man handed him the cash, and turned to walk away. As Ryan put the money into the cash register, he could've swore the man looked back at him before finally exiting the shop.  
He had to admit that the man was quite strange, he had never seen somebody look so confused.  
Ryan already did everything he needed for the day, but his mind went back to the stranger. Hopefully, that wasn't the last time he would be seeing this mystery man.

Not a day after, the same man walked into the small flower shop, greeting Ryan with a smile. Although being slightly confused, he smiled back at the man. Why was he back? It had only been just over 24 hours since Ryan had last seen him. The mystery man skimmed over the various flowers and plucked one of the thornless roses from the plastic container they were being held in. He twirled it around for a few seconds before striding over to the counter, and handing it to Ryan. 

"Only one?" Ryan asked him softly while looking up the price on the outdated computer in front if him.

"Mhm." The man hummed.

"Well then, that'll be $1.65."

After he gave Ryan the money, Ryan went to hand the rose back to the man, but was stopped when his hand came in contact with another. Ryan curiously looked up at the man's face before his hands were pushed into his own chest, still holding the flower.

While as Ryan gave him a confused look, the man only smiled.

"See you tomorrow." He spoke.

 

And he left, leaving Ryan standing at the counter, suspiciously looking down at the flower in his hands, which had a small piece of paper in between two of the crimson petals.

Luke Patterson :)

And it was that slip that told Ryan he wanted to are more out of this ‘Luke’. After it repeating for a few days, Ryan realized this had become somewhat of a tradition for the men, and neither were complaining. Luke would walk into the shop at exactly 2:18 p.m, after he finished his shift down the street. He would pick up a flower, the color and size varying, and walk it up to the front counter where Ryan was waiting with a fond smile. He would then pay for it, and leave it with Ryan after a nice conversation about their day so far, and maybe a bit of playful arguments. And it was always like that. Luke was there at the exact same time, Ryan in the same spot, with the same smile, no customers, and a longing for the man he had gotten used to.

Until that day Luke hadn't shown up. Ryan had waited an extra 10 minutes for him to show up, but after a few more customers and rush hour, his smile was no longer there. Where was Luke? Had he forgotten, or just decided not to come? What if he wasn't here tomorrow either?

Ryan finished ringing up the customer at the counter, and remembered something Luke had told him. Luke said he worked down the street from Ryan, near the record shop. 

With this thought in mind, Ryan hastily took off his yellow apron and stuffed it under the counter before hopping over said counter, and changing the shop sign to say 'closed'. He ran out of the shop that he probably shouldn't have left unlocked, and headed toward the record shop.

Once the record shop was in sight, Ryan realized that he had not bothered to ask Luke which store he actually worked in. It could be the ice cream parlor, the laser tag dome, the movie theater, or even the barber shop for all he knew. He entered the ice cream parlor first, and once he got to the counter, asked if anyone named Luke was employed there. The man working at the counter shook his head no, and Ryan realized that his plan might be a bit harder than he anticipated. How many stores could he possibly go to before he found the right one?

A lot, apparently. Ryan already checked with almost the entire block and no one had ever heard of a Luke. That is, until he talked to the guy at the tattoo parlor. Of course, he didn't take Luke as the buff, hardcore type, but it couldn't hurt to ask, really. He did remember Luke talking about getting a tattoo soon. 

So he walked into the parlor, and was immediately greeted with the buzz of needles piercing skin. It made him a bit uncomfortable, but Luke had become, and was, important to him. He slowly made his way to one of the workers who wasn't doing a tattoo for somebody.

"Excuse me, does someone named Luke work here?" He asked cautiously.

"Patterson?"

"I guess, yeah. Is he, Uhh, here?"

"He called in sick. Did you have an appointment?"

 

“Uhh, no. He's a friend. He usually stops by my work when he's finished. Do you have his address?"

"Somewhere in the back, probably. How do I know you're a friend?" The man asked.

Suddenly, a woman with fiery red hair came from the back with a smile and butted in front of the man.

"Are you okay, sir? You look a bit irritated." She asked, sending a glare to the man Ryan was previously talking to.

"No, I'm fine, thanks. I just came by to ask about my friend, Luke. He usually stops by my work when he's finished his, but he didn't show up. I wanted to visit him, to make sure he's okay." Ryan quickly explained.

"Oh! Of course! Hold on a sec, I'll be right back."

Ryan walked with her to the front counter, and stopped in front of it while she went into the back.

True to her word, the lady was back out within minutes.

“Here you go! I hope this helps. Can I ask your name, Sugar?” She asked, handing him a slip of paper.

“Yeah, it's Ryan. Um, thanks for the…” He gestures to the slip of paper, “everything.”

“It's nothing, I know how you and Luke are. You know, he says a lot about you.” She said teasingly.

“Really?” He asked.

“Mhm. I can barely get him to stop, sometimes.” seemingly as an afterthought, she added, “Since the day you met. It started as ‘He smiled at me! Should I go back tomorrow?’ and now it's ‘He's so perfect’ or ‘he said today was sucky. Do you think I should go back to cheer him up?’ and ‘he's hot, yes, really’. He just doesn't stop.”

Ryan was, well, shocked, to say the least. 

He knew that Luke liked him enough to come back everyday, (and buy him a flower, now that he thought about it), but he didn't expect everything that came out of her mouth. It almost felt wrong, like Luke himself should be telling him these things, but Ryan couldn't help the sense of overwhelming joy that came over him when he realised that Luke had genuinely come to like him, and wondered if he should stop by the store for some soup and tissues.

He remembered that he was standing in a tattoo parlor, and brought himself back into the conversation, though he might've had a slight heat to his face.

“Oh...well it was nice meeting you.” Ryan said sheepishly.

“Likewise. Now go, don't want him waiting.” She cheekily smiled at him and lifted her elbows off the counter before turning to walk into the back room once again.

He exited the little parlor with a smile and headed to his car, which was parked a bit down the street.

After putting the address on the slip of paper into his gps, Ryan sighed, muttering a little, “Oh, the things you do for love”.

x

Ryan knocked on the front door of the house that was supposedly Luke's, and waited for a response.

The house was two-story and a light beige color, with a gray roof and window linings. There was a small tree in the front yard, a nice addition to the house’s beauty.

“Hello?”

The door opened and Ryan was happy that he arrived at the right house, although Luke looked like he'd had better days.

“Hey Luke, You doing alright?” 

Luke's face showed how surprised he was that Ryan was there.

“Ryan? What are you doing here?” He asked with a small sniffle.

“Your boss told me you called in sick, so I came to see if you were alright.” Luke didn't respond for a few seconds, so he added, “I brought soup?”

Luke smiled and opened the door wider for Ryan to fit through.

Ryan entered his house and made his way to the kitchen, sitting the plastic bag on the counter.

“I'm sorry I wasn't there to visit you today.” Luke said.

“Well you're sick, I wouldn't expect you too. But now I get to visit you!”

Luke sat on the counter near Ryan, still in his pajamas.

“Do you want soup?” Ryan asked.

“Please?”

Ryan gave him a smile as he got the soup out of the bag, and, after asking the location of, got a pot out of the cupboard.

The whole time he stirred and cooked the soup, Luke was there. He asked him how his day was, as per usual, and joked around with him; Ryan couldn't keep a smile off of his face, and he couldn't help but think of what the lady told him.

After turning the stove off, he turned to face Luke with a challenging smirk.

“So...I heard you've been talking about me?”

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Luke replied with a smirk.

“Well,” Ryan started, walking over to the counter where Luke was, “I don't know, I've heard quite a lot from a certain red-head you work with.”

“Is that so?”

Ryan nodded his head yes, and moved Luke's legs apart to stand in between them, “Quite a bit, actually.”

“What do you think about the things you've heard?” 

Luke scooted a bit closer to Ryan on the counter.

“I must say, I find it flattering that you told her I was ‘hot, yes, really’.” Ryan said, recalling what the lady told him earlier.

Now this made Luke laugh, even if he sounded funny because his throat hurt. 

“It's true! She didn't believe me!”

They were both laughing at this point, lost in their own world in the kitchen.

“Well, if it's any consolation, I think you're ‘hot, yes really’ too,” Ryan stopped laughing and instead looked up at Luke, “And I'd love to continue with...whatever you would call what were doing right now, but I think you should eat the soup before it gets cold.”

With a smile plastered onto his face, Luke pushed Ryan backwards a bit before sliding off of the counter.

“Me too.”

And Ryan thought Luke seemed to like the idea of having him around almost as much as Ryan himself did.


End file.
